Seth Godin made a post about price and its relation to value and story rather than cost of production.
I am excerpting heavily here because he says a lot of things about price, but I have a narrative I am going to focus on. So read the full post if you want all his thoughts.
It’s better to explain your fair price once than to apologize for low quality over and over.
[…]
When someone says, “that’s too expensive,” what they mean is that the story you’ve told them so far (and the reputation you’ve earned) doesn’t match the price you’re charging. You probably don’t need a lower price, but you might need to earn a better story.
“It might not be for you,” is almost always part of “we make the best (for someone).”
Bargains, sales and coupons are a sport and a narrative. They’re not just a discount, they create their own sort of value and expectation.
Convenience is often underappreciated as a component of value.
[…]
The most resilient slogan you can earn is, “you’ll pay a bit more, but you’ll get more than you paid for.”
What I really appreciate about these thoughts, (as well as those I didn’t include), is that they emphasize that pricing doesn’t exist in a vacuum isolated and unrelated to story and reputation.
Every price has at least one story associated with it, and one of those stories may be one being told by a customer.
I have made a number of posts over the years citing research that shows free admission or low prices often damages brand perception rather than helping new audiences and visitors discover and become invested in your organization.
Which is not to say low prices don’t lower a barrier to entry for new audiences. There has to be some form of communication that connects the preferred rate to an identity group the person belongs to -resident of a neighborhood, member of a club, etc. Essentially, there is a story attached to the pricing.
Similarly, there are companies out there who will work with you on pricing who emphasize pricing based on the purchaser’s perceived value rather than yours. You may think a section of seats are the most mediocre in your venue, but there are a lot of people who will pay much more than you’re charging. Likewise, you may think an artist is the most gifted of their generation, but low awareness outside professional circles will translate into few buying tickets to a special exhibit.
Godin’s line about convenience being an underappreciated component of value reminds me that many of the barriers to participation arts and culture visitors identify are often outside the control of the organization – things like parking, traffic, restaurant reservations, perception of crime, etc.
Though elements like the ticket purchase path, wayfinding to and through the venue, feeling of welcome, are all within the control of the organization.
The ease of navigating all these elements contributes to an often intangible perception of value associated with an experience.
Those first and last lines I quoted had the most impact on me when I read them.
I hadn’t considered them before. Especially the idea it is better to explain the value behind the pricing rather than apologize for poor quality.
I sort of feel like the brand promise of paying a bit more but getting a bit more has permeated a lot of the work I have done and facilitated and has been echoed back by participant comments. But working to consciously embody that as an individual and organization dovetails well into the core missions of a lot of arts and cultural organizations
